LEGACY
by Tatooine92
Summary: Being a billionaire's daughter has its perks. But when your dad AND your aunt are superheroes? Then it gets weird-and everybody expects you to be the same. Movieverse. Does not include IM3. Tie-in to Jax Solo's IRON BONDS. Andy belongs to JS, and Toni belongs to me.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The California Department of Child Services database filled the large computer screen in the garage. Tony Stark couldn't believe what he was seeing. Oh God. It wasn't impossible, just hard to accept. The little girl on the screen was essentially a neon billboard announcing his DNA wasn't confined to his body. That was uncomfortable. He hadn't _completely_ forgotten about this—at least, that was what he told himself to feel better. It had been happenstance that Jarvis had found the email during a regular cleanup of the system. It was another reminder that some parts of his life before Afghanistan, before everything had snowballed, had been, well, _livelier_ than others. The date on the email: June 12, 2001. Seven or eight months after the voicemail he hadn't acknowledged.

"Information," Tony said. The screen switched to the appropriate tab on the website. The picture of the dark haired, dark eyed little girl zoomed out to make room for the biographical paragraph. His eye first caught her birthdate: June 12, 2001. Same date as the email. Of course it was the same date. He had never looked at the email in detail until Jarvis found it and set it aside as a query. He didn't know why he hadn't looked at it. Fear? Apathy? He hadn't even fully listened to the voicemail. It had begun with "Hey, Tony, there's something I've got to tell you" and he had hung up before the recorded woman's voice on the other side could say "I'm pregnant." Hadn't wanted to think about it.

"Photo."

The tab switched back and the picture zoomed back in. It wasn't a very fancy picture; just a three-quarters headshot, well lit, attractively posed. Tony braced his elbow on his desk and rested his chin in his palm, gazing at the massive display. Antonia's dark eyes gazed out at him over a shy smile. It was a lovely picture of a lovely child. It was still hard to comprehend, but he was forced to accept it and act upon it. He had told Pepper he was different, that he had a purpose, that he was new and improved and responsible. She had told him that, if he were so responsible, why didn't he claim his mistakes? Good question, Pepper.

"Sir?" Jarvis asked when Tony said nothing.

"...information."

"Again, sir?"

"Jarvis, don't question me; just do it."

The screen switched back to Antonia's biography. Her basic physical descriptors were right there, in full view: first and middle names, age, hair and eye colors (both brown), height, and weight. His eyebrows rose slightly to read her name. _Antonia Caroline_. Huh. He wouldn't have picked that as name combo. Hell, he wouldn't have named his own kid after himself. He couldn't remember the kid's mom, but she must have had a taste for the ironic.

"Antonia Caroline," he murmured. The combination felt good on his tongue. The _kuh_ of the _C_ felt like a good balance to all the vowels in _Antonia_.

"...sir?" Jarvis said. The AI sounded worried that his master was talking to himself. "I am afraid I do not have that as a registered command."

"It wasn't one," Tony replied. "I was just, uh... just testing out the sound."

"...I see." Humans could be so strange. "Is there anything else you need, Mister Stark?"

"Yeah." He leaned back from the desk and folded his arms over his chest, his eyes fixed on the file photo. "Call Pepper; get in touch with DCS. Officially."

"Are you quite certain, sir? Your lifestyle has not been the most conducive to rearing a chi—"

"I know what I've done, Jarvis. Just do it. I want this kid."

"...of course, sir. Calling Miss Potts now."

Tony spun around in his swivel chair, listening to the phone ring. Pepper answered on the fourth ring. She sounded tired and overworked but Tony didn't pay attention. It wasn't that he didn't care; he was just too distracted by Antonia's shyly grinning photograph, well, to care—temporarily, of course.

"Hi, Pepper," Tony said in an entirely guilty tone. Pepper sighed heavily on the other end. Tony could envision her rubbing her hand through her red-gold hair and shutting her eyes with frustration.

"What have you _done_?" she asked. She had more than her share of stress after the whole problem with Stane and the I-am-Iron-Man press conference. It felt as if it had happened a lot more than two months ago.

"Apparently, I _did_ a beautiful woman seven years and nine months ago," Tony sniped. The call went silent, and Tony glanced up at the ceiling as if the speaker were directly above his head. "...um, Pepper?"

"...Tony... you... you..."

"...yeah." Tony swallowed and forced himself to tell her the whole story, starting with Jarvis's finding of the email and ending with, "Pepper, I—I just feel like I need to do right by this kid. I'm the reason she exists. She needs me."

No, she didn't need him. She needed a good father. Tony didn't know if he could be a good father. He had enough money to be an indulgent one, but he didn't know about being a good one. His own father had never been brilliant at parenting, but Tony loathed the thought of Antonia being distant from him like he had been distant from Howard. He didn't want to do that if he had the power to fix it. On the other end of the phone, Pepper signed heavily.

"...are you sure about this, Tony?" Her voice was quiet, sedate, but concerned. "You've never been the paternal type."

"I know, but... yeah. I'm sure. I don't want this kid to grow up without her dad, especially when I'm sitting right here and I can do something."

Pepper was quiet again, but she sighed in resignation, and Tony could envision her nodding slowly.

"...all right. I'll get in touch with the lawyers and start the process. The fact that you're _you_ might speed things up."

"And you _know_ you're gonna love having a kid in the house," Tony said brightly. Pepper snorted.

"Please. I already have you to worry about."

The call ended with that, and Tony had Jarvis make a second call. He spun around a few times in his swivel chair while the phone rang, eager for his sister to answer.

"What."

"Hi, Andster."

"...what have you done..."

"...why does everybody always ask me that?!"

"Because everybody always has a reason."

"...that's not fair."

"It is too fair. Now tell me what's up and make it quick because I'm in the middle of something."

"Are you trying to hack the CIA again?"

"No, Russian intelligence. Make it _quick_, Tony..."

"Okay, okay. How much do you like kids?"

The background noise of short-nailed fingers clacking on computer keys stopped, and Andy Stark's old creaky swivel chair groaned unhappily. Tony could envision her falling back against it from her hunched position in front of her computer array.

"...oh my God, Tony, you _haven't_..."

"Why does everybody _think_ that?!"

"Because you went twelve-for-twelve kinda-sorta-not-really with last year's _Maxim_ cover models, you jerk!"

"Hey, Andy, that is _not_ fair. You know I've changed!"

"Yeah, well, maybe. But since you asked, I hate kids."

"Too bad. Congratulations, auntie."

Andy moaned miserably, and Tony stuck out his tongue even though she was presently on the other side of the country, cleaning up the last of her stuff from her D.C. hideaway. He had learned that tongue thing from her, he realized. He heard a thud as she dropped her head into her hands.

"I hate you," she mumbled against her palms.

"I love you too, Andster."

"Jerk."

"Nerd."

They hung up at that without Tony ever explaining Antonia's story. He figured he didn't really have to. Andy would get distracted from hacking Russia to find information about her previously unknown niece, and Tony couldn't help but smirk as he spun around, leaned his head back, and looked at the photo upside down. It was weirdly exhilarating to think of that cute little girl as his daughter. Already, he had a few dreams about what she would become. Maybe she would be absolutely brilliant and would carry on the family tradition of geniuses. Having her uphold the Stark name was exactly the sort of legacy he so desperately needed as he restructured the company. But all those dreams would have to wait. Right then, Antonia was just a seven-year-old little girl who probably didn't even know her father existed. She was just living in the care of the state, waiting for someone to call Daddy. She wouldn't have to wait for long.

He really did like the _Caroline_ part.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Several months later._

Another night, another ritzy gathering of socialites. All came for the spotlight, and some came out of obligation. The rest weren't required to attend but it would look bad if they didn't. If any of them were there simply to enjoy a pleasant California evening, then they were all just lying to themselves. Nevertheless, the atmosphere buzzed with glamorous enthusiasm and echoed with the hum of conversation. The scene wouldn't be complete without paparazzi swarming around the guests, who pretended they didn't see the cameras when it didn't suit them and flashed dazzling smiles when it did. Reporters stood shoulder-to-shoulder with celebrities who didn't really want to talk to them anyway but who feigned generous patience because it looked better on the magazine covers. Because of all the motion, the evening was in full swing even before sundown. Inside and outside, excitement electrified the air as everyone waited. A few guests enjoyed the refreshments and dance floor indoors, but most of them lingered outside on the red carpet while the paparazzi clustered by the curb, fingers poised on expensive shutter buttons.

A black limousine slowly pulled up alongside the curb, its tired squeaking faintly as it stopped. The paparazzi hovered as close to the car as they could, almost blocking the door. Tony looked out at them and sighed. Vultures, all of them. But the little hand clutching his tuxedo jacket reminded him why he was here, and he gently rubbed the soft skin. He waited until Happy came around and opened the limo door before sliding out and smoothly standing, giving his tux one quick tug. The camera flashes began immediately.

"Mister Stark! Look this way, please!"

"What have you been doing these last few months, Mister Stark?

"Is there a reason you've been so quiet?"

"You're not trying to hide, are you? The public needs to hear from their newest hero, Mister Stark!"

Tony tried not to roll his eyes, but he definitely didn't answer. He gave the herd of flashing cameras a once-over and turned back to the limo, ducking his head inside the door and extending his hand.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he murmured, out of earshot of the paparazzi and reporters. The little ball of pink froufrou peered at him from against the far door.

"I'm scared."

"I know. It's okay. I'm here. C'mon."

He knew what the press expected as he moved back from the limo: a long-legged beauty in a slinky evening gown. A blonde, maybe—no wait, a redhead! Or was he thinking of Pepper again in her blue birthday dress...

But if there was one thing Tony loved to do, it was to give the press something to talk about. When he helped his guest out of the limo, she wasn't a willowy supermodel with glossy hair. Instead, out hopped his seven-year-old daughter, his Antonia, and Tony felt his chest inflate proudly as he offered her his arm and she clung to it, beaming up at him. When she finally dared to look away from Tony, she stared at the party with a little girl's amazement. Tony couldn't help but gaze admiringly at her. She looked so pretty in her frilly pink ball gown, white flats, and lacy little gloves. When Pepper had taken her shopping for this evening, little Antonia had firmly declared that she wanted "a dress like Cinderella's, Pepper, except not blue because blue is for _boys_ and boys are _gross_." Tony almost cracked up thinking about it, even as he found himself holding her matching handbag because she was already tired of carrying it. Obviously, his sweet little girl, so pure and trusting and nothing if not a princess, felt like the most special girl in the world; she looked up at Tony again with eyes that glittered like the barrette keeping her brown ringlets out of her face. Her smile lit up her entire face, and Tony couldn't help but grin back.

He almost cracked up laughing because the press didn't know what to do. Oh, man, if only Andy could see this—wait, no, she was probably watching via satellite uplink, chowing down on a Hot Pocket and mocking the paparazzi. He heard the question "Who _is_ that?" filter through the crowd, and Antonia looked up at him a third time, this time a little more worried. Tony found her scooting behind his legs, peeking out with wide eyes, and he reached down and rubbed her hair. He made a one-handed adjustment to his bowtie and murmured encouragement before starting through the crowd, up to the red carpet. As he moved, a reporter for _People_ stepped up, the one brave soul among the curious.

"Mister Stark, who's the lovely lady accompanying you tonight?"

Tony smirked at him and looked down at his little girl. Cameras flashed when she looked up at him with childlike trust.

"Do I get to tell them?" she asked, and Tony shrugged a shoulder.

"Might as well. C'mon, speak up like we practiced."

She looked around, stood up straighter, and cleared her throat _exactly_ three times. Tony almost burst out laughing but bit his tongue—literally.

"My name is Antonia Caroline Stark," she said, just like she had practiced a half-million times at home before tonight. A loud gasp went up from the paparazzi, distracting her for a moment. A hand squeeze from Tony got her going again. "I'm seven years old, and this is _my_ daddy!"

She nodded proudly, looking up at Tony for confirmation. He gave her a grin and gently stroked her hair as the press erupted. Antonia shied behind his legs again, and Tony tried to urge her out of hiding. His attempts failed, however, because she yanked away from his arm and dove back into the limo. If Tony hadn't known that Pepper was still in there, he would have rushed after Antonia to keep her from hiding. He tried to wrangle the press, but he couldn't get past them until he had his special ladies alongside him.

"Daddy's getting _swamped_, Pepper!" Antonia exclaimed behind Tony, her legs and puffy skirt sticking out of the open door. Happy was trying to hide a smile. "You'd better come and help!"

As quickly as she'd disappeared, Antonia hopped back out, smoothing the wrinkles she put in her dress. She clung to Tony's legs again as Pepper glided out of the limo. Tony couldn't help but turn and stare at her. Oh, Pepper. She was so beautiful tonight in her green evening gown and red curls. Their gazes met briefly and broke again when Pepper demurely glanced away and moved forward to push the reporters back. Antonia snatched Tony's hand, and the three of them started toward the main doors. It would be a great evening for just the three of them; Antonia would woo the press with her adorableness; and Tony could gaze admiringly at Pepper...

At least, that was the pan before the all too familiar roar of a motorcycle echoed down the boulevard. Tony groaned unhappily and turned. He thought she was still in D.C. cleaning up... Jarvis _promised_ she was still in D.C. cleaning up... Antonia squealed excitedly and bolted away from Tony, running back to the curb. Happy caught her by the sash to keep her from running out into the street even before Pepper shouted for him to grab her. Tony didn't understand why she looked so stressed already. Antonia wasn't _that_ big of a handful...

"It's Aunt Andy!" Antonia announced excitedly, bouncing up and down. "Hi, Aunt Andy!"

"Hey, kiddo," said Andy, pulling up alongside the curb and swinging off the motorbike. As soon as she was off, the bike veered away to park itself; flashbulbs went off everywhere to see that. Andy grinned lopsidedly at her new niece and reached down to rub her hair. Then she cocked her head at Tony. "What, you didn't expect me?"

"I thought you were still in D.C.," Tony groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"_God_, your tracking software sucks. I'm all done there. Took the liberty of droppin' my stuff at your house, and Jarvis said you'd come out here so I thought I'd join the fun."

"Your eveningwear is beautiful," Tony muttered. Andy laughed, her tongue between her teeth. There was no eveningwear to speak of. She was wearing jeans, leather, and Doc Martens—classic Andy. Why couldn't Andy ever dress appropriately... The last time she'd been so occasion-inappropriate was when she came out of her D.C. nest to meet Antonia after the adoption or custody-claiming or legitimizing or whatever the hell the process was called. Her AI had hacked the house security, and she had been lounging by the pool when they all got home, wearing the biggest damn _sunhat_ that Tony ever saw. When she got up out of the lounge chair, still wearing the obnoxiously huge hat, the rest of her was clad in her biker clothes. She'd scared her new niece at first, looking like that, and had pretended not to care until Tony turned his back. When she thought he wasn't looking (but he was), she took off the hat, got down on Antonia's level, and all-out apologized, if "Sorry I scared you and sorry your dad's weird" qualified as an apology.

"Yours too, big bro," Andy replied, fondly holding Antonia's hand. "Dapper as ever. Bowtie's crooked, though. Might wanna fix that, or have Pepper do it. She's good at straightening out all your crookedness."

She turned an adoring grin on Pepper and then pushed through the paparazzi, dragging Antonia by the hand. Tony shook his head; his sister was crazy, but any other sister wouldn't suit him. He offered his arm to Pepper, and she took it with a small head shake of her own. Since Andy was pushing through the crowd of press, demanding room to move, a wide break opened for them to walk inside even as cameras kept flashing. At the door, Tony paused and shot a dashing grin over his shoulder, his hand resting in the small of Pepper's back. He winked at the cameras and then slipped inside, and Pepper gave him an odd look.

"Mister Stark."

"Mm?"

"...don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

Pepper motioned to his hand with her eyes. Oh. Tony dropped his hand and mumbled an apology. Andy was laughing at him and Antonia was giggling, already nibbling on an hors d'oeuvre. Tony shot a glare at Andy and she just beamed innocently. Her imaginary halo was still shimmering as they were seated at the family table. Antonia was looking around with wide, excited eyes, kicking her feet under the table and trying not to bounce. Tony was trying not to get bored. He loved debuting Antonia here, but he had really come to hate high society. Before much longer he whipped a pen out of his jacket pocket and attacked the _A. E. Stark and Family_ place card, scribbling out all of that and scrawling _The Fun Table_ in its place. It made her laugh, and Tony inflated happily. How about spending eternity making her laugh like that? That would be fun. His dad had never made him laugh. Hell, his dad sucked as a parent. Tony wasn't going to be Howard. He'd be the dad who tucked his kid in at night and went to all the recitals and plays and science fairs. He couldn't help but lean his head in his hand and watch his little family, sister and daughter and assistant. Pepper was coaching Antonia how to drink her punch without spilling it all over herself, and Andy was raiding the bowl of mints, muttering about hoping the punch was clean. Tony lifted his head and glared at her as Antonia asked innocently what clean meant.

"Sans vodka," said Andy, cheeks full of after-dinner mints. Apparently the "after-dinner" part was just a suggestion.

"What's vodka?" Antonia asked.

"Never mind," Tony told her. "It's for Daddy, not for you."

"Tony..." Pepper said warningly. Tony knew that tone. Maybe it was better to escape before he got into trouble. Thank God the band started up; Antonia's feet kicked in tempo under the table, and Tony glanced at her.

"Wanna dance?" he asked. Screw the hobnobbing and elbow rubbing that he was kinda-sorta expected to do. Antonia's ringlets bobbed as she nodded, and Tony offered his hand.

Both of them hopped out of their seats, and Tony led her out onto the dance floor. He couldn't help but look at her sparkling brown eyes. She was so beautiful and innocent and full of delight. The way she looked at him in adoration made him feel like the best guy in the world, even though he had a thousand ways to disprove her. It felt like just the two of them out there, her feet perched atop his as they swayed back and forth, hand in hand. God, he'd never felt like this before. He just felt... _right_. At peace. _Complete._ When the music ended a few minutes later, Antonia was still gripping his hand.

"I love you, Daddy," she said.

Tony thought his newly repaired heart would explode when she said that, and he dropped down to her level, gathering her into his arms and holding her tightly. He had never felt better than when her arms squeezed around his neck and she kissed his cheek.

"I love you too, sweetheart," he whispered.

He carried her back to the table on his back, her stocking-covered legs around his waist. Forget proper public etiquette; he loved his little princess and didn't care who saw. Even Andy was mouthing "Aww!" as they came back to the table, and Tony deposited Antonia in her chair with a smooch on the forehead. She beamed up at him and went back to her punch, glowing with happiness.

They left the party when Antonia started leaning too heavily on Pepper, Andy following on her bike. By the time they got home, Antonia was sound asleep in the backseat of the limo, curled up between Tony and Pepper with her head on Tony's lap and her feet on Pepper's. Tony stroked her hair the whole way home, wordless. Pepper looked over at him as he kept up the slow rubbing.

"...I'm glad you found her, Tony," she murmured. "Just watching you two tonight... You needed this. Both of you."

"Yeah, we did," he agreed, voice low. He didn't dare wake Antonia. "I just feel like this was meant to happen."

"I think it was, too." She put her hand on his arm as they pulled into the driveway at the Stark mansion. He looked up and smiled.

Arriving at home didn't even wake Antonia, and Tony carefully shifted her into his arms as he got out of the car. Her curly head nestled into his chest, and he softly pecked her hair as he carried her inside. Jarvis murmured a greeting and dimmed the lights. Andy mumbled good night and shuffled to her own room. Pepper whispered good night as well and went to her room, leaving Tony with Antonia. He carried her to her bedroom, all pink and princess-y. Jarvis raised the lights enough for him to see, and he did his best to undress her and wrangle her into her new floral nightgown without waking her. She stirred but never woke up, and Tony tenderly tucked her in. Soon, she was snuggled under the covers of her own bed in the now dark room, and Tony stepped back, watching her for a few moments. She was his, and he was glad. She needed to be here, safe, no longer shuttled from foster home to foster home. He made a final check of the covers, making sure his sleeping little girl was warm and snug. He brushed a hand over the pastel pink comforter and had to smile as he ducked to kiss her forehead, breathing in the clean scent of her no-tears shampoo.

"G'night; sleep tight; don't let the bed bugs bite," he murmured as he pulled away. Mom used to say that.

He glanced back on his way out the door and smiled tiredly before he closed the door with a soft _click_. In his own room, he shrugged off his jacket, loosened his tie, and flopped backwards onto the bed with a sigh. She called him Daddy, and it just felt natural. He wanted a picture of their dance; he knew the paparazzi had followed them inside. They'd been having a field day with the appearance of a new Stark, and he doubted the enthusiasm would go away. Sure he wanted her to be a genius like he was, like Andy was, like Dad had been. One day, everything—the company included—would rest in her hands, but that wasn't for a while yet. For now, he was content to let her be a curly-haired seven-year-old who liked pink way too much. The little princess would have to grow up eventually, but not right now.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Ten years later._

Seven o'clock AM came way too soon on Toni Stark's last day of junior year. The alarm clock went off, but she didn't hear it. Her queen-sized bed and its bright yellow sheets were way too comfy for a stupid little alarm clock to coax her out. It didn't even matter that it was an alarm that got louder the longer it went ignored, because she was _out_. The teenage years had that effect on everyone, not just boys like the stereotype said. The alarm clock essentially yelled at a heap of neon yellow sheets and a lime green comforter, and its message went ignored. She was dreaming, too—happy dreams about her family on a beach vacation, so realistic that she could feel the sand scratching her skin and the salt water misting onto her face on the breeze.

It was a solid ten minutes before Toni even began to hear her alarm. With a groan, she reached out from under her blankets and tried to find the clock; she groped along the bedside table for the damn thing and thwacked it across the room as hard as she could. It crashed against the far wall, but at least it stopped beeping. Toni groaned and bundled up tighter under the covers, sighing happily. She was almost unconscious again, slipping back into her dream, when her room became suddenly and extremely bright. She whimpered miserably, knowing who was responsible for the interruption.

"Jarviiiiissss..."

"Good morning, Miss Antonia," Jarvis warmly greeted her.

"Good according to whom?" she groaned, burying her head under her pillow. Mm. Nice and warm under there. Why did Jarvis have to be such a classic butler-type? She was pretty sure that he was based on an actual live butler that Dad and Aunt Andy had had when they were kids or something. Toni stayed quiet, hoping that Jarvis would go away and just let her sleep.

"It is now seven-ten," Jarvis announced, "which is ten minutes past your usual time though you requested that your alarm clock replace me. However, since you have destroyed your clock, I shall resume my duties."

"Well, you don't hafta sound so excited about it," Toni mumbled. He ignored her.

"It is eighty-five degrees and sunny this morning. Clouds expected this afternoon, followed by a decrease in temperatures and breezes of fifteen miles an hour. In an attempt to awaken you, Mister Stark requested before he departed that I inform you that today is your last day at school prior to summer holiday. I shall take the initiative to also inform you that, considering your usual schedule, you are late."

In Toni's opinion, Jarvis should have said that _first_, because that was all it took to yank her out of bed. She had been on time every day for the past year and had received a perfect attendance commendation with almost every report card. It would have been every report card except for a few days in January when she had come down with the flu; there was so way she would be late _now_! In a split second, she threw back the covers and scrambled out of bed as fast as her sleepy legs could go. She didn't bother with what she would wear for the day; she just grabbed yesterday's jeans and Eiffel Tower t-shirt from where she had left them draped over the back of her desk chair. She raced across the room and into her bathroom, slamming her door. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she heard Jarvis chuckling at her. That didn't make her feel any better; she was already working herself into a hard panic, and with good reason: one, she still needed to shower, and two, her best friend, Gabby Moreau, was expecting her. Ever since she had gotten her car, Toni picked up Gabby at school and drove her to school. Gabby was always on time—or worse, early—and that habit was annoying enough that Toni cut corners on her morning toilette, taking the shortest shower known to woman. Four minutes after she hopped into the shower, she hopped out. Literally hopped.

"Must move faster must move faster," she grumbled to herself, toweling off, tugging on her clothes, and attempting ambidextrousness by brushing her hair and teeth at the same time. Leaving off her makeup wasn't a big deal; it wasn't like she had M&M-sized zits on her chin, and she usually rubbed off the makeup anyway by putting her head in her hands way too often. In the long run, the lack of a little mascara didn't matter—but what _did_ matter was that she was still freaking late for the last freaking day of junior year!

"Late for the last day of junior year," she muttered after she spit into the sink. "Brilliant. Absolutely _brilliant_. On time every other day, but late for the last one! That's gonna be a _big_ hit with the teachers..."

She rinsed out her mouth so fast that she nearly choked on the water. Still coughing, she shot out of the bathroom and back into her room to pull her bed together. The sunlight gleaming through the window made the lime green and white walls glow brightly. She squinted and turned away from the green accent wall behind her bed. The eye-searing time-to-get-up function was working _really_ well today. Living in essentially a Crayola box had its perks. She had to smirk as she shut off the bathroom light. Dad had almost had a heart attack when he first saw how she painted it neon orange and yellow. Previously, it had been blue and green with mermaids and seahorses. Yeah, she wasn't eight anymore.

Toni spared a glance at the ceiling as she reached for her backpack. She didn't know why she always glanced up when she was about to talk to Jarvis. Dad didn't. Pepper didn't. Aunt Andy did. Uncle Cap never knew _what_ to do when he came to visit.

"Jarvis, you should've gotten me up!"

"I did, Miss Antonia."

"No, I meant _earlier_!"

"As I said before, you requested that I not, Miss Antonia. You possessed a perfectly suitable alarm clock that functioned quite well until you destroyed it."

"Functioned, past tense," she sighed, dropping her full backpack onto her bed and walking over to pick up the deceased clock. _Sigh_. As she dumped the broken clock guts into her trash can, she forgot about being late... until Jarvis reminded her.

"It is now seven-twenty-five," he announced, startling her to her feet and sending her scrambling for her backpack, "and I must say, you are even later than you were, Miss Antonia."

"You are no help, Jarvis!" she yelled as she high tailed it for the door.

To her own ears, she sounded like a herd of water buffalo as she thundered down the stairs (and she wasn't sure why her brain picked _water buffalo_ instead of something normal like, say, _horses_). Thank God she had left her shoes in the downstairs coat closet yesterday so she didn't have to make the trip back upstairs. She practically skidded the corner as she headed for the door through the kitchen. When she slid into the kitchen, she almost slammed into poor Pepper, who was getting together a thermos of coffee before she went out and did—well, whatever it was she did during the week. Did she still qualify as being Dad's personal assistant? What _did_ she do at Stark Industries since the wedding? Toni had never really asked. Maybe she should have at some point during the ten years she had known Pepper.

Pepper looked surprised to see Toni in such a mad rush until she spared a glance at her watch; then she looked at Toni with pity. Toni dropped her backpack on the counter and managed to pour herself a glass of orange juice, almost inhaling a cold Pop-Tart from the half-empty box in the pantry. Even in her hurry, she noticed something weird: she had missed saying "Have a nice day!" to Dad, and the fact that he wasn't home at seven-thirty told her that he had gone superhero-ing again. Maybe he was even with Uncle Cap this time. If he was busy on a mission, Aunt Andy would always come to Malibu to stay with the rest of her family because she hated being in New York without her husband.

"Are you _that_ late?" Pepper asked her, glancing a second time at her watch as Toni polished off her Pop-Tart, gulped down the rest of the juice, and stuffed the glass in the dishwasher.

"Yep!" she replied, talking as quickly as she was moving. "Gotta run gotta move haven't been late this year for no good reason so I'm not startin' now Gabby's waiting bye Pepper!"

She stopped just long enough to peck Pepper on the cheek and grab her backpack before she raced off down the stairs to the garage and her car. She got to the garage without forgetting anything else, punched in her access code, and ran across the garage to her pretty little baby: a silver 2018 Audi R8 GT Spyder convertible, glossed and waxed to perfection. Toni couldn't help but grin as she unlocked the door and slid into the driver's seat. The convertible that she so lovingly called Baby had been Dad's gift to her on her seventeenth birthday. Dad had insisted that "no daughter of mine is gonna be seen without her own hot rod." As far as Toni was concerned, Baby was a hot rod indeed. She was a well-oiled machine, a veritable work of art, and she was a joy to drive—especially with Toni's lead foot that she had apparently gotten from Dad. She hit the gas and Baby squealed out of the garage, her brand new tires leaving streaks of black on Dad's spotless floor. They went up the long driveway and into the world, Baby's drop top down and Toni's hair air drying in the wind. She couldn't help but grin and turn up the radio as she raced to pick up her best friend.

The house seemed too quiet without Toni rampaging through it, Pepper mused with a sigh over her mug of coffee. She had gotten so used to her stepdaughter running around like a caffeinated squirrel that every time it got silent, the atmosphere in the house just felt wrong. She sighed and finished checking Tony's schedule for the tenth time, tucked her PDA into her purse, adjusted her pantsuit, and headed for the garage to get to work. Something on the floor caught her eye, however, and she glanced down. Lying there was a piece of paper that had obviously fallen out of Toni's backpack when she snatched it off the countertop. The paper was folded into quarters and sealed with a purple flower sticker that had begun to lose its stickiness. Pepper half wondered if it were a piece of homework that Toni needed, so she stooped to retrieve it, loosened the sticker, and unfolded the paper.

As she unfolded and flattened the sheet of paper, Pepper paused in surprise at what she saw. It was a sheet of drawing paper containing a highly detailed sketch of Iron Man. It was drawn in pencil and then neatly inked, all the highlights and shadows of the metal painstakingly replicated. Pepper was stunned; Toni couldn't have drawn the armor better unless she built it herself. She had always known how good an artist Toni was; learning from her uncle had helped, as had the summer of drawing classes and an advanced art class at school. Toni seemed to have noticed every detail of the Iron Man suit and transferred it to her sketchpad; it seemed almost like a technical drawing instead of a work of art. Pepper shifted her thumb and noted a small note in the upper corner of the paper, scribbled out in Toni's uncaring handwriting: _To Dad. Much love—from Toni_. Pepper kept looking at the paper as she headed downstairs to her Bentley. When she entered the garage, she looked around for somewhere to leave it—somewhere that Tony would be sure to see it. He loved getting little doodles from his daughter; he had saved every one she had ever made him. Pepper leaned the unfolded drawing against one of the monitors in his computer array; he couldn't possibly miss it there, and she knew he would love to see it when he returned home tomorrow night. Thinking about her husband's delighted smile brought a grin to her face as she got in her car, glancing back at the little white sheet leaned up against the computers.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Moreaus' house was across town from Casa Stark, though theirs didn't sit on the edge of a freaking _cliff_. Dad was a loner like that. Gabby always told Toni how cool it was that she practically lived on a beach, but Toni didn't think it was so great. Sure, the views were to die for, but it was all she could do not to tell Gabby how much life would suck if a typhoon were to hit the Pacific coast.

As Toni drove into heavy morning traffic, she reconsidered her thought that the Moreaus were "only" across town. They almost lived in L.A., but still far enough out to avoid the _really_ heavy traffic and have a few acres of prime Malibu real estate to live on. Their driveway was almost a mile long, but, thankfully, it was paved so Baby didn't go bump-bump-splat over a mile of gravel. Before she reached the end of the driveway, Toni could see the Moreaus' house looming under a pair of huge, flanking oak trees. Toni loved going to their house. It was huge and roomy, though nowhere near as huge as home. Maybe that was a good thing. She especially loved the country glamour look it had going for it. At least, "country glamour" was how Gabby's mom described it. Toni thought it was pretty. She liked the white paint and blue shutters; she liked the two stories and furnished basement; she didn't care about the three-car garage, but she _loved_ the giant wraparound porch, populated by white wicker rocking chairs. It looked like something off the cover of an old copy of _Southern Living_. She had no idea how they had managed it, but the Moreaus had three magnolia trees growing in their yards. The family wasn't even from the South! Maybe Mrs. Moreau's favorite movie was _Gone With the Wind_ or something. Hell, maybe it was the whole family's favorite movie. Maybe, on the off chance that they ever got a divorce, Mr. Moreau would storm out the front door with a parting shot of "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

When Toni drove up into the circle drive at the front of the house, she saw Gabby sitting and waiting on the top step leading up to the porch. She waved when Toni drove up, and Toni waved back, unlocking Baby and leaning over to shove open the passenger side door.

"It's about time!" Gabby said with cheerfulness just barely tinted by exasperation. She jumped into the passenger seat and quickly shut the door, flicking her long hair over her shoulder. Fashion forward as always.

Toni had to admit, her best friend was gorgeous. Gabby's mom was Filipino, so Gabby got the glossy dark hair and tan skin, while her brother looked more like their American father. Still, even natural beauty required some maintenance, and Gabby was addicted to hair conditioner and eyeliner. At least she knew how to use it, and at least she knew how to dress for her svelte body. Gabby was way too into fashion for Toni's taste: she had subscriptions to all the major fashion magazines, American and not, and she followed every fad almost to the letter. It was a pain in the ass to listen to her rattle on about the latest trends, because Toni just didn't care. But the last time she had tried to stem the flow of chatter with "Gabby, shut _up_!" hadn't gone over well, so there was nothing she could do but tolerate it. Toni didn't care for fad fashion. She preferred comfy and stylish, like Dad, and classic and _classy_, like Pepper. She would be satisfied to go to the mall in a sweatshirt and holey jeans, but Gabby always dressed like the paparazzi were chasing her rather than her best friend. Toni sometimes wished that were the case.

As they drove away from the house, Gabby pushed her pink camo book bag onto the floor at her feet and grinned at Toni from behind her oversized sunglasses. If she was still mad about Toni's lateness, it didn't show. In response to "It's about time!" Toni shrugged.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late," she said. "Alarm clock was being a hater, so I murdered it."

Gabby's grin turned to a slack-jawed stare. She snapped out of it just long enough to wave at her mom, who was leaving at the same time. Then she went back to staring at Toni.

"You what."

"Murdered my alarm clock."

"And I thought _I_ was wild. I never murdered an alarm clock! What happened?"

"It was trying to wake me up," Toni said, turning out onto the main highway. Gabby snorted with laughter.

"Isn't that what it's _there_ for?"

"Well, yeah, but it's also a perfectly logical reason to slaughter it."

"Aaaand that's why you're late."

"Yeah. Sorry, Gab; that makes you late too."

Gabby waved dismissively as Toni stepped on the gas, bringing Baby up to the speed limit and keeping her there. Normally she, like Dad, didn't care about the limit, but getting pulled over on the way to school would _suck_.

"So why didn't Jarvis wake you up?" Gabby asked over the roar of the wind as Baby raced along the highway to school. Better than the highway to hell, Toni thought, and that song started playing in her head right on cue.

"He did, but only after the clock took a dirt nap."

"You always have an exciting life, AC."

AC had been Gabby's nickname for Toni since sixth grade, when Toni had been going through a puberty-fueled rebellious stage. Thank God for Pepper's help. Toni had been so fed up with Dad, Aunt Andy, Uncle Cap, Jarvis, Mina, _and_ the house that she refused to respond to "Toni." In an attempt to maintain sanity, Gabby had taken Toni's initials and dubbed her AC—and had called her that for five years now. Toni didn't mind. Sometimes it was a nice break from being Dad's name-clone. Her birth mother must have been evil, but at least she didn't name Toni something like Antonia Edwardina. _Ew._

"Rarely exciting," Toni said. "Always crazy."

Gabby laughed, and Toni shook her head and kept driving. She reached down into the center console, fished out some sunglasses, and slid them into place without running off the road. She always looked the most like Dad when she wore sunglasses; maybe it was because they had the same little brow quirk. Couldn't escape heredity.

"Yeah, crazy," Gabby grinned. "I mean, you _are_ Iron Man's kid."

"What?! I am?! No way! No one ever told me!"

"Oh, AC," Gabby laughed, shaking her head and thrusting her hand out of the car to let it coast up and down on the wind. "You're ridiculous. Speaking of your dad, what did he say about your poor, _defenseless_ clock meeting such a _tragic_ end?"

"He wasn't home," Toni confessed regretfully. Thinking about Dad made her wonder what she had done with the Rolling Stones CD Aunt Andy had given her, though she didn't know why her brain made that connection. "He wasn't there when I got up, so I guess he was superhero-ing long before then. He doesn't leave without saying goodbye if he's just going to Stark." She couldn't say "the office" anymore, because, technically, Avengers Tower was his office now.

"Or if it's an emergency," Gabby nodded. "You told me all this before. C'mon, AC, don't sound so sad. You really miss him that much? He goes places all the time..."

"And that's _why_ I miss him," she said, a despicable tightness rising in her throat. "I love him so much I don't even have words for it, but after the reactor crisis eight years ago it feels like he's missed most of my life. If it's not playing creative consultant for the company, then it's SHIELD and the Avengers. And when he _is_ home, he's working on the suit or his cars or some new fanciful piece of tech that I can't pronounce. Even then, he's too tired to talk to me. It's almost like I oughtta quit callin' him Dad and start yelling 'Hey, Iron Man!' every time I need something."

"AC, you've _got_ to tell him this stuff," Gabby murmured, reaching to touch Toni's arm as they drove closer to school. "He needs to know how much you want him around."

"Yeah? And how am I supposed to do _that_? Hijack Pepper's day planner and rearrange his schedule?"

"That's one way of doing it," Gabby said with a shrug and a mischievous grin. She brushed some wind-tossed strands of dark brown hair over her shoulder. "All you've gotta do is get in there and cross out the next board meeting. Stick 'Spend quality father-daughter time with Toni' in its place, and you're done!"

"Make him miss a board meeting?!" Toni was beginning to laugh as they pulled into the school parking lot at last. They'd be relegated to one of the remote parking places by now, but it was okay. "Oh, man, he'd be pissed off for weeks. No, scratch that—he'd probably get over it in an hour, especially if Pepper sent Sam in his place."

Major Samantha E. Matsuo was the liaison between Stark and U.S. military for the times that Stark actually fulfilled military contracts. Dad worked more with repulsor and arc tech now rather than new things that went boom, but that didn't mean that there weren't military applications for his work as well as civilian ones. The good major _hated_ being called Samantha, though; it was _Sam_ or nothing, or _Major_ if you were in deep dirt with her. She was a major in the Air Force and had been serving since she graduated high school. She had gone to MIT with Aunt Andy—they were actually roommates, if you could believe that Aunt Andy was ever sociable—and had graduated from Air Force ROTC with her degree in aeronautics. Clearly, she was every bit as smart as Aunt Andy was. No wonder they were good friends; they could shoot technobabble back and forth and each would understand what the other was saying. Their friendship was the reason that Sam bridged the gap between Stark and the Pentagon, ever since Toni's other favorite liaison, well, went off the deep end. They didn't talk much about that incident anymore since it was Dad's best friend going _insane_. As far as Toni knew, Rhodey was in a padded cell somewhere on the East Coast. She missed him. She had met him right after Dad brought her home, and she had liked him right off. It was a shame that he was gone now.

After Rhodey fell apart, they needed a new liaison despite Dad's in-_sis_-tence that Stark no longer made weapons. Either Aunt Andy owed Sam a favor or Sam owed Aunt Andy. The two of them had thrown around the phrase "You owe me!" so many times that they had probably lost track. It was Aunt Andy's idea that Sam fill the gap Rhodey left behind, and it happened even though Dad didn't really like it. He had gotten over it by now, though—probably because Sam was so awesome. Military service ran in her family; her grandfather had served in World War II with the Nisei, and her dad was a retired Navy officer. Sam herself had been everywhere from Desert Storm to Iraqi Freedom and back again, serving as a combat and test pilot. When she was wounded in action in Iraq, the Pentagon brought her home to a desk job, which was where she and Aunt Andy reconnected. Life had this funny way of working everything out just fine.

Toni dropped Gabby off at the door and went to grab one of the last available parking spots. Now that she was here with her mind cleared, she didn't worry so much about being late. She remembered that it wasn't really a class day; it was more or less a farewell assembly after which the students would get their final report cards and say goodbye to the graduating seniors. It was weird to think that Toni would be in that class next year. She grabbed her backpack and slid out of her car, setting the security system but not bothering to put the top up. Somehow, she had ended up only a few minutes late for assembly, rather than the huge margin of lateness that Jarvis had quoted to her. Maybe school started later than usual today because it wasn't a "real" school day. She didn't know the end-of-year schedule _that_ well. Gabby waited for her at the door and looped her arm through Toni's when Toni finally caught up.

"Your feet are draggin' a bit, AC," she said. "Feeling lonely?"

The corner of Toni's mouth quirked up, and she shook her head.

"Tired, more than anything. Wondering why they couldn't just mail the report cards to us."

"Gives the teachers a chance to lament our leaving, I guess," Gabby smiled. "C'mon, we're late."

She dragged Toni off to the auditorium, and Toni sighed. Yeah, late. Sometimes, that felt like the story of her life.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by and reading. Just wanted to remind you that this little tale will NOT include references to the just-released IM3. I've been working on this story since the first movie came out; it's gone through about six major overhauls since then; and I am most definitely not doing another one. So, IM3 will not be part of the Toni canon, which is based off of JaxSolo's Iron Bonds, not her remixes. So yeah. Enjoy! Blessings, T92.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

At long last, junior year was finally over. They had had a nice assembly in which the teachers had, in Toni's opinion, lied by telling the student body how awesome and wonderful they had all been throughout the school year. The principal, student government president, and valedictorian of the graduating senior class all got up and gave speeches extolling the virtues of school and students. Toni spent most of the speechifying with her head resting on her favorite English teacher's shoulder. After assembly, it was the calmest school day Toni had had that year. Final assignments were handed back; library books were returned, including some stuffed in Toni's backpack; lockers were cleared out; the outgoing seniors signed yearbooks for each other and took a dozen blurry photos for Facebook. Toni didn't care much about the yearbooks until someone brought one up to her and asked her to sign the four-by-six class photo of herself that had been arranged dead center in the yearbook. She remembered being elected "Most Likely to Succeed" and thinking it was weird because she wasn't a senior. Apparently it was some kind of a statement: "We think she is going to be so successful and follow in her dad's footsteps that we exalt her above all the seniors!" Toni didn't think it was so great. As much as she loved her dad, she wanted to be judged on her own merits, not on his. Whatever. She screwed on her brightest smile and scrawled _Best of luck—Toni Stark_ on an empty part of the picture, finishing it off with a flourish and a massive smiley face.

When the day was over, she was glad to get out of the school building. Once all the goodbyes and good lucks were finished, she and Gabby left as fast as they could. They had promised each other that they wouldn't look at their report carts until they got back to Baby, and they loyally kept that promise. Gabby was eager to see hers; Toni was neutral, bordering on apathy. She had a good idea what it already looked like inside its slipcover, and she didn't really want to see it. She tossed her backpack into Baby and slid in behind the steering wheel, staring at the neatly typed "Antonia C. Stark" typed neatly on the front. Why couldn't they just email these? It was the 21st century, for God's sake. Gabby brushed a hand over her card's envelope, sighing happily.

"Well, you wanna do it?" she said.

"No." Well, it was true.

"Aww, come on, AC! I'll even do it with you!" she coaxed. "I'll count. We'll do it on three. One... two... three!"

They flipped open their cards and glanced down at them. Toni was slower to open hers than Gabby was; she heard Gabby chirp "Ooh!" even before Toni saw letter grades on hers. Leaning over, she scanned Gabby's grades: all _A_'s and _B_'s. No surprise there. Mr. Moreau was a computer developer—not one of the dorks working at electronics stores but more like a miniature Bill Gates sans Microsoft. Toni patted Gabby on the shoulder in silent congratulations and straightened again to read her own grades. AP English, A. History 102, B. French, B. Psychology, A. Those were awesome, and Toni had to smile. She knew what was yet to come, but at least she could revel in her successes.

Two subjects remained on her report card. They were the ones that Dad had wanted her to do so well in that he had lectured her, pleaded with her, reasoned with her, bargained with her, grounded her—even bribed her. She knew she made a B on each of those finals, but she hadn't kept track of her other grades enough to estimate. She glanced down.

Physics 101, C-minus. Algebra II, D.

Oddly, she felt nothing. After all the effort that Dad had put into encouraging her, she had almost failed where it counted—to him, at least. But she felt nothing. She felt neither happy nor sad, though her chest seemed to relax. She hadn't even realized it was tight. She dropped the report card into the center console with little fanfare and accelerated out of the parking lot. She knew that she was in for another lecture about not studying, but she wasn't afraid of it. She _almost_ felt relieved, and she didn't even feel guilty about it.

She drove in silence for a long time, not even looking over at Gabby when she gingerly lifted the report card by its corner. Her grimace was audible when she looked at the grades. Toni adjusted her grip on the steering wheel and said nothing. Gabby closed the card, put it in Toni's backpack, and patted her best friend's shoulder.

"It's okay, AC," she said. "You did your best. It just... didn't work out."

"Yeah," Toni replied, almost monotone. "It didn't work out. You make it sound like some mysterious force controlled my grades, Gab."

"Sorry. I'm just saying, I know you did your best this year."

"Nearly flunking hardly qualifies as 'best.'" So why was she so okay with that? "If I'm supposed to be the next Stark super-genius, to whom the company is bequeathed, it doesn't look so good to flunk math."

On the other hand, maybe that was a good thing. Maybe she was so sick of being groomed for the CEO chair that it was just easier to fail. Why couldn't she be unconventionally brilliant? She had taught herself to excel in English and the arts. Why couldn't she do well at that?

"Look on the bright side!" Gabby tried to encourage her. "You _didn't_ flunk math! You got one letter grade _higher_ than flunking! That oughtta mean something to your dad, right?"

"Probably not. He's gonna be pissed to see these grades, and you know it. You know how much he hates it when I come back with grades like this."

"Well, you _could_ butter him up a little bit by telling him about the nice _B_ you got on your final. He can't _possibly_ be mad at you about the _D_ when you did so well on the final!"

"He'd probably find a reason. And if he isn't gonna get after me to study harder next year, then he's just gonna _look_ at me, and you know I hate that. I think math is out to get me."

But what if she was purposefully doing it to shed all the pressure she had grown up under? Come to think of it, she used to do well at math until she realized just how much everyone would expect from her one day. She had been told, in some form or another, that someday she would inherit the company, just like Dad had inherited it from Granddad. She had been told how she would be in charge and make all the big decisions, and Dad had always told her how proud he would be to see her behind the CEO desk. At the time, it had seemed like such a faraway dream. Now, since Dad had traded the CEO position between himself and Pepper at least once, it seemed a lot closer. Sometimes Toni didn't think she would even make it to college before being thrust into leadership. So maybe she didn't _want_ to be in charge. Now, she wasn't sure if she _couldn't_ do math or if she just didn't want to.

"Looks like he'll just have to accept I might not be the next Stark brainiac," Toni said, tightening and relaxing her grip on the steering wheel. "Dad had better think up a way to keep himself alive for eternity just in case I can't handle it!"

"Now that's just straight up pessimism," Gabby replied. "Although, frankly, are you sure you _wanna_ run the company? I mean, if you don't have any interest in it, maybe you should go into something else."

"I've thought about that, actually," Toni admitted, slowing to a stop at a red light. "Dad might murder me, but I have thought about it." She looked up at the light, staring at it until it turned green. She slowly accelerated when it did since there was no one behind her. "It's just... sometimes I feel like I'd let him down if I didn't take over. I dunno. It's weird."

"That it is," Gabby agreed. "But, you know what, one day you'll figure it out. Fate has a way of making people do what they're meant to do. So one day you'll know, even if it involves telling your dad no."

"...it just hurts to disappoint him," Toni said, her voice soft and childlike. Gabby rubbed her best friend's shoulder.

"I know, AC. I know. But maybe there's more to genius than _A_-pluses in math and physics, building circuit boards while you're in preschool, or graduating _summa cum laude_ while the rest of your peers are still struggling through high school. Maybe you've got your own brand of genius that you haven't found yet."

Toni raised a brow, glancing over at Gabby so quickly that it was as if she hadn't taken her eyes off the road.

"You're getting all philosophical on me again."

"Not my fault. You know my mom's a shrink."

Toni laughed softly. Yeah, she knew that perfectly well. Gabby's mom wasn't just a shrink; she was a psychiatrist, and because of that Gabby tended to spout all sorts of wisdom of the level of a high school counselor because it was the most basic psychological method she knew. Half of it was parroting the stereotypical things her mom said ("And how did that make you feel?"); the rest of it was genuine wisdom put into shrink-speak when they were better off in dummy-speak. Most times, though, Gabby's parroting made her feel better. Today was no different. It gave Toni a measure of hope that maybe she wasn't in as much of a cage as it sometimes felt. She grinned at her best friend, reaching over and patting her knee as Baby turned onto the exit for their part of Malibu.

"Thanks, Gabby. I'm probably just an Average Jane with no super-high IQ _whatsoever_, but thanks just the same."

Actually, that wasn't true. She had been tested upon entering high school and the score came back every bit as high as Dad's or Aunt Andy's. Still, she didn't think Gabby needed to know that. It might destroy her entire theory of "You're meant for a different kind of greatness!" Gabby started playing with the radio, content with her own advice. She must have found an oldies rock station, because an AC/DC song came blaring out of Baby's speakers. It was one Toni hadn't heard much since Aunt Andy was so selective with her much, but it had a good beat and Toni drummed her fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm. Gabby grooved in the passenger seat, trying to figure out the melody so she could hum along. The music and Gabby's dancing gave Toni an idea, so she reached over and turned down the volume so she wouldn't have to compete with the radio.

"You wanna spend the night at the house tonight?" she asked.

"Aww, sorry, I can't," Gabby sighed. "As much fun as that would be, Michael's coming home tonight, and we're going out for dinner."

Toni made a frowny-pouty face because of how much she wanted her best friend to spend the night. If anything, Dad would be gone a few days, so she wouldn't have him to talk to. The only good things she could think of were that she still had Pepper and that Aunt Andy had called yesterday to say Uncle Cap was out on a mission and that she would be flying out to Malibu while he was gone. Maybe she would even be there when Toni got home. At least she had those members of her family, because she couldn't deny Gabby the chance to spend time with her brother. Michael was older than Gabby and Toni by four or five years and had clearly received the same good looks genes that Gabby had gotten. He was insanely smart, graduating college early, and very business-minded. If he hadn't been hired by an up and coming pharmaceutical company, he would probably be working for Dad. Toni wouldn't have minded that. She figured working for Dad had to be better than being a salesman for that company. What did a guy that intelligent need with selling medicine? Maybe he liked the travel, because he was always gone overseas on business trips. Toni didn't know much else, since she had only met Michael twice, but both times she had really enjoyed the encounter. He was so classy and debonair, with his dark hair and glittering eyes... The last time they had met, at the Moreaus' Christmas party, she had the distinct impression that he was looking at her really closely. They _had_ spoken a while, too, and he _was_ attractive...

"AC," Gabby said, and Toni jumped.

"What?"

"You had this dreamy look on your face."

"...I did not..."

"You did too! You so did! I mentioned Michael was coming home and you got this really distant look." She gasped and began to giggle. "You like him!"

"What?! I do not!"

"Yes, you do! You like my brother! Toni has a cru-ush, Toni has a cru-ush!"

"Shut up! I do not!"

"Aww, AC, you act like it's a problem..."

"It is, because it's not true!" Toni harrumphed. "It's a good thing he _is_ coming home, because I wouldn't want you at my house now anyway."

"Aww..."

Gabby's tone of voice showed she knew Toni wasn't totally serious about that, but she didn't tease her anymore. Toni just grit her teeth and settled in tighter, flexing her grip on the wheel. After another minute, Gabby glanced over.

"Wish I could spend the night," she said by way of truce. "I was really looking forward to hijacking the whole-house audio like we did last time."

Toni cracked a grin at that. Last time, Dad had been home too, and as a prank Toni and Gabby had hijacked the audio system and piped show tunes into Dad's workshop. He hadn't been thrilled, but since he hadn't been furious he ended up chasing Toni around the house, catching her at last and taking her to the floor with a tickle attack. It was one of the rare times that Dad played with her anymore.

"Good times," Toni sighed. Gabby nodded in agreement.

"That they were. Wish we could have some more, but, well, Mom told me to come right home after school. Something about cleaning the house for Michael. I dunno why. It's not like it looked like a spread outta _Better Homes and Gardens_ when he lived in it—especially considering _his_ room!"

Toni laughed, though she was disappointed not to have any company. Maybe some days were just like that. At least Aunt Andy might be there to visit, if she wasn't already sequestered in her room hacking Homeland Security for the fiftieth time. Toni loved it when her aunt came to visit. They had the best times together. Sometimes it was like they were more sisters than aunt and niece.

"It's okay," Toni said as they drove into view of the Moreaus' country manor. "Guess I'll hafta see if you're doing anything tomorrow."

"Probably am," Gabby sighed. "Parents will probably wanna take Michael around town. Not like he hasn't seen it before. But I'll call ya, okay?"

"Perfect," Toni agreed as Baby rolled down the Moreau driveway and to the circle in front of the house. Gabby hopped out when Toni stopped, snatching her backpack as she did. She leaned over Baby's passenger side door, grinning.

"Thanks for the ride," she said, "and good luck with your dad and that report card!"

She turned and jogged up the steps and into her house, waving over her shoulder right before the front door shut. Toni waved back and drove away a lot slower than she had raced to school. It wasn't that she dreaded going home without her dad being there; she just loved the drive between home and school. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Even though the house was almost cut off from the rest of civilization, it was simply gorgeous. She loved driving home and seeing it perched there on its lonely cliff, the Pacific begging at its feet. As she drove up, she paused on the long driveway to look out across the ocean, just basking in the warmth and watching the waves glint like sun on glass. That was the only description she could think of, even if she _had_ borrowed it from _Sarah, Plain and Tall_. She loved that book. Pepper had given it to her as an adoption gift. The view from the driveway was so lovely, so tranquil, and yet so... lonesome. Toni didn't really feel lonely, just removed from the world even though the world was so close nearby. She turned the radio all the way off as she pulled into the garage.

Pepper's Bentley was still gone, but a familiar motorbike was parked cockeyed in the middle of the garage floor. Toni was so excited to see Andy's bike that she leaped out of her car, snatching her backpack as she jumped out. She knocked her report card to the floor but didn't realize it as she raced up the stairs out of the garage. She excitedly darted around the waterfall, slinging her backpack across the room and aiming for the couch even though she missed.

"Aunt Andy?!"

"Kitchen!"

Toni scampered into the kitchen as fast as she could, trying not to slip. Her beloved aunt was raiding the pantry for snacks, just starting to turn at the sound of Toni's footfall. Toni almost attacked her, leaping onto her and hugging tightly. Andy Stark staggered back with a loud "Geez, Tone!" but she fiercely hugged her niece.

"I missed you," Toni sighed, her feet dangling a few inches off the ground as she hugged Andy. Andy gently rubbed her back.

"Missed you too, kiddo."

Toni snuggled against Andy's neck for a minute before letting go and dropping back down to the floor. Andy reached up and tousled her niece's hair, making Toni groan but not fight it.

"Tell me all about everything," Andy said as she pulled two cans of soda out of the fridge.

"I don't think we've got enough time for _that_," Toni replied, walking into the living room to pick up her backpack as Andy brought in the soda.

"Hey, you never know. At least try. Here, I'll even offer helpful prompts. How was your day...?"

"Not bad," Toni said, trying to hide a smile. She made space between her spot on the couch and Aunt Andy's, upturning her backpack in the empty space. "Kind of boring. The last day of school almost never involves class, so..."

"Last I heard, class was your arch nemesis."

"Well, yeah, but I like the structure. It's nice to have a routine, something to do, something to put my mind to work on... Summer's gonna bore me."

"Well, you know, you _could_ always take your dad's offer to intern with the Avengers."

"Because putting a kid in a combat zone sounds like _such_ a good idea," Toni sighed. She started to sort the junk from her backpack, amazed that it wasn't very heavy considering the amount of stuff she had stashed in there.

"It wouldn't necessarily be combat," Andy told her, popping the soda cans open and handing one to her niece. "You could run support."

"I really don't think that's a good idea, Aunt Andy. No offense."

"None taken. Just don't want you callin' me halfway through July to say 'Aunt Aaaaandyyyyy I'm booooored would you help me hack the CIA for fuuuuun...?'"

Toni laughed at that, pushing some old candy wrappers into a pile to throw away.

"I really don't think that's what I'll do for fun," she said, still grinning as she sorted her writing utensils and threw away the empty pens. Andy picked up one of the full notebooks and thumbed though it, though Toni wished she wouldn't. It was her personal writing notebook, which made it even weirder than one full of actual class notes. Ever since she could remember, Toni had owned a writing notebook. During her growing up years, Dad had encouraged her to pursue math and science and Pepper had encouraged her to foster her creative side. All of her teachers had agreed that doing both was the best way for her to be a well-rounded individual, so Dad had bought her a pink pony journal for her eighth birthday. Toni had been writing down little ideas and observations ever since, not that she had ever accomplished much with them other than whipping them out for English composition classes. It was uncomfortable to pretend she didn't see Aunt Andy thumbing through the ink smudged pages with torn corners, looking at the words interspersed with drawings. The journal Andy held was more sketchbook than notebook, filled with doodles she did during school—doodles of her family or elaborate technological designs that weren't physically feasible. Toni tried to pretend that she didn't see when Andy stopped on one part of the notebook, but it was difficult not to notice. Andy read quietly for a long time, and when Toni ran out of things to organize she had to acknowledge Andy's reading. She looked up and saw how furrowed Andy's brows were, and she swallowed weakly. Andy looked up and turned the notebook toward Toni, pointing to the paragraphs scrawled out in Toni's sloppy cursive.

"What's this?" she asked.

"What's what?" Toni asked, trying to feign innocence even though the words were right there in front of her face.

"What's _this_?" Andy asked. She flipped back to the first page and started to read. "'My father is a superhero. I know this because I watch every time he becomes the person that young kids idolize.' Can I keep going or do you want me to stop?"

"...you can read it if you really want to..."

Apparently, she did.

"'Each time, the bright fluorescent lights of the garage reflect off the gleaming armor plates as they all snap seamlessly into place. It's a flurry of motion as he transforms from human to superhuman.'" Toni groaned in embarrassment at her own clichés. "'I've seen this happen dozens of times now, but the transformation, the flashes of light, the whirl of activity, the shining armor—it all takes my breath away, makes my jaw drop. I sit there, eyes glued to him, drinking in every detail of every rapidly passing moment in the vain hope that whatever makes him the genius he is will somehow miraculously filter into my brain and make me what I know he wants me to be.' Uh, Tone...?"

"Um... I was having an angsty day..."

"Obviously. There somethin' you need to talk about, Tone?" Andy seemed genuinely concerned. Toni could understand that concern. The essay was a clichéd bit of drama about how the lonely child laments her father's absence, even though most of the time Toni didn't feel that way. When she did have bad days, however, things like the stupid, half-finished essay in Andy's hands resulted.

"...I dunno. I just..." She trailed off briefly, remembering her talk with Gabby. "I feel like he's missed half my life. I just feel like..."

"...like he doesn't see the real you." Andy sighed and put the notebook down on the coffee table, pulling Toni into her arms and hugging fiercely. "Tone, ultimately you gotta do what makes you happy, and not what your dad or anybody else expects from you. He keeps givin' you grief about your math and science grades but I say, do what your heart says. You know how much trouble Dad gave me."

Yeah, she did. That knowledge made Toni hug her aunt even harder, nestling her head into Andy's chest but trying hard not to jostle the reactor. Grandpa Howard had been really rough on Andy because she didn't have the same genius as Dad. Andy hadn't come to terms with it until after Toni joined the family—until the year that she and Tony both had nearly died of palladium poisoning. Those few weeks had almost destroyed the family. They had certainly affected Toni, and not in a good way. No wonder she wanted her dad to be involved in her life.

"If you don't wanna be a math and science genius like your dad," Andy was saying when Toni tuned back in, "then we'll just find ya somethin' else to be a genius at. I mean, you're a pretty good writer. Maybe you oughtta get something published."

"I can't even make it into the school's lit mag," Toni muttered.

"...baby steps!"

Toni laughed weakly at that and hugged Andy tightly. Andy hugged back just as tightly and kissed the very top of Toni's head, amidst the dark waves.

"It'll be okay, Tone," she murmured, pressing her cheek to Toni's head. "Someday you'll figure out _exactly_ where you belong. I'll even make _damn_ sure there's a place in the Super Secret Boy Band for you."

Toni laughed and nodded against Andy's chest. Joining the Avengers was certainly one way to get Dad's attention, since it took up so much of his time. Dad, Andy, and Uncle Cap were to the Avengers as Nick Fury was to SHIELD. If Andy said she could join up, then Toni knew that no one would stand against that decision. Sometimes she did want to join. The club meetings seemed fun. Yes, "club meetings." What else was she supposed to call it? The Avengers was basically a club for superheroes, and they often had meetings at the tower in New York. The last time Toni went to one, she had been fifteen. She hadn't been invited, but since she was in New York with Dad over summer break, she just went anyway. Dad was a little annoyed that she kept popping up in the middle of world-saving business, but everyone else loved having her. For the most part, she sat in a corner sketching everyone. Once, she decided to do something crazy and snuggled up to Wolverine. Everyone else had laughed because they knew Logan wasn't the easiest person to get close to, what with his bad tempered, claw-wielding immortal self. He had eventually given up and accepted the hug—not to mention sat there and returned it—and he had been teased for it, though, for "going soft." He had just held up his middle claw and Toni had struggled not to laugh as Dad barked "Hey, put that down!" It had been way too late to protect her innocent eyes, but Dad had tried anyway.

"I think I'd like that, actually," Toni said, pulling back and looking up at Andy with a smile.

Saying it made her think that maybe, just maybe, Dad's joking comments of "Y'know, Toni, we need to get _you_ a suit" were his way of trying to reconnect with her. Maybe he was trying to get her to go with him since he wasn't home very often. She didn't have practically unlimited spare time like he did, but if she _could_ spend some of it with him, and if doing that _did_ require joining up with the team... Frankly, she thought she just might do it. Andy smiled and tapped her niece's chin.

"Good kid. C'mon. No more angsty talk. We're gonna have _fun_ to celebrate your first night of summer freedom. Just you, me, and Pepper. Hey, did you ever start callin' her Mom?"

"No," Toni sighed. As much as she loved Pepper as her stepmother, it just felt... weird to call her Mom. "It's still just Pepper."

"Fine by me. Anyway, it'll just be us, some pizzas, and some _good_ movies—none of that chick flick crap."

"You're my favorite aunt," Toni grinned. Andy snorted.

"Damn right I am."

Toni laughed and high fived Andy before starting to clean up her little organized piles of the stuff from her backpack. She was on her way to throw away the trash when her phone went off, loudly playing _Shoot to Thrill_ and vibrating like mad on the coffee table. She gasped, instantly recognizing the personalized ringtone; she squealed "Dad!" and took off running, skidding back across the living room floor.

"Hi, Daddy!" she answered sweetly, pressing her phone to her ear and grinning broadly. "Whatcha doooooin'?"

She had answered calls from her dad like that for _years_, mostly because every time she did it, Tony laughed. Today was no different. He sounded calm. Relaxed. It was a genuine laugh, and it made her happy.

_"Not much,"_ said Tony. _"Taking a little break in between rounds of fighting international nasties."_

Toni smiled, closing her eyes and envisioning the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Her dad might be a little older now, but he was still so very handsome—the handsomest man she knew, except for Uncle Cap. Speaking of Uncle Cap, she heard him walk by in the background and call out "Hey, Toni."

_"Uncle Sam over here says hi,"_ Tony said. Toni smiled as Aunt Andy's phone rang, and the delight on her face showed it was her husband. She got up and walked away with a happy "Hey, you" and Toni flopped down onto the couch.

"Hi to Uncle Sam," she chuckled. Dad had ceaselessly mocked his brother in law with the nickname "Uncle Sam" since, one, he was Captain freaking America, and, two, he had a niece by marriage now. "So, is everything okay? You're safe?"

_"Yeah, just fine. Took out a real interesting bunch this morning, but nothing major." _Toni could envision her father standing on a hotel balcony somewhere tropical, the Iron Man suit off, and his sleeves pushed up around his elbows. She could imagine him just being normal, standing in a breeze that ruffled his hair and echoed in the phone's speaker. _"How about you? Everything okay?"_

"Never better. School's done." She hoped he wouldn't ask about the report card.

_"Bet that feels good."_

"You know it."

_"Maybe we can do somethin' to celebrate tomorrow. I'll be back in the afternoon. Uncle Sam here is gonna be a little later; he keeps getting _all_ the fun missions."_

"Well, I'm glad you're coming back. I miss you."

_"Miss you too, kiddo. Can't wait to be back."_

"Can't wait _for_ you to be back." A few moments of silence, each waiting for the other to say goodbye first. Toni glanced up to find Aunt Andy standing at the poolside, smiling softly as she talked to her husband. Toni sighed a little. It must be great to feel that way about somebody—romantically, at least. She already knew what it felt like from a family angle. "Dad?"

_"Yeah, kiddo?"_ Toni smiled even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"Just wanted to tell you I love you."


End file.
